Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

…In his head
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Mar 2014
🖨️ Print Article

by Raymond Nat Turner

Dr. King’s Dream come true,

In his head! Black folks way better

Off, in his head, Rev. Wright was

Wrong, in his head!

 

…In his head

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

Headin’ downtown on the D train

The other day I overheard oration—

By a fella, to a fella, from a fella 51/50

“Mexicans takin’ our jobs; they hate

Our freedoms— but blurred lines,

Beyonce’s booty, NAACP Image

Awards, Robin Thicke & recovery

Jus’ roun’ the corner; smart phone,

Dr. Dre headphones lift me outta

Poverty; smart bombs protect my

Freedoms; I got 2,000 Facebook

Friends, a poke away, who gimme

My kidney & bone marrow transplant!”

 

Booming baritone thundering in

Harmony with the train, he continued

His melodious, rhythmic catechism,

“Since ’08 things been Great,” in his

Head, Dr. King’s Dream come true,

In his head! Black folks way better

Off, in his head, Rev. Wright was

Wrong, in his head! “Yes, we can,”

In his head, mo’ Black folks have

Homes since World War II, in his

Head! Mo’ Black wealth than ever

Before, in his head; fewer Black folk

Dyin’ fo’ they 70th, in his head; mo’

Black men goin’ to college than jail,

In his head, liars figure but figures

Don’t lie, in his head, in his head,

“Change we can believe in,” in his

Head, police stopped shootin’ us

Since that beer, in his head; we

Cool, long as Big Brother brown, in

His head! Oratory swelling like a

Dark cumulus cloud, lookin’ me

Dead in the eye, “This election the

Mos’ important election ever…”

 

“The rich say that every time,” I snapped.

He leapt up like a man possessed, banshee-

Rebel- wailing, “What, you ain’t votin’?

Nigger, get away from me, you is cra-aaa-zy!”

 

Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at upsurgejazz.com

 

Raymond Nat Turner © 2014 All Rights Reserved

 

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Drones in the Sahara
    Joe Penney
    Drones in the Sahara
    21 Feb 2018
    “American, Italian, German, and French military forces are active in the country, and if any one of them makes a mistake, they can all become targets for retribution.”
  • Major South African Trade Union Federation Welcomes Resignation of Jacob Zuma
    Zwelinzima Vavi
    Major South African Trade Union Federation Welcomes Resignation of Jacob Zuma
    21 Feb 2018
    “Zuma is a creation of the ANC, not the other way around.”
  • Black Agenda Radio, Week of February 19, 2018
    Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio, Week of February 19, 2018
    20 Feb 2018
    Ajamu Baraka: US threatens military action against Venezuela Sentencing Project on a Senate bill to ease restrictions on sentencing judges
  • Liberal-FBI Love Fest Recalls 1950s
    Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Liberal-FBI Love Fest Recalls 1950s
    19 Feb 2018
    The current liberal and “progressive” love affair with the FBI “is a way of affirming the status quo,” in which both Democrats and Republicans are participants, said scholar Ward Churchill
  • The Underground Struggle Continues
    Kyle Fraser , Black Agenda Radio producer
    The Underground Struggle Continues
    19 Feb 2018
    Shannon Jones and her comrades in Bronxites for NYPD Accountability have taken the struggle against police repression underground, into the subway system, where they encourage folk
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us